How do elections work in Sweden?Sunday 11th September is election day in Sweden – where voters can elect a new parliament and decide the make-up of the country’s regional and municipal councils – all Swedish political bodies are elected to...Posted 29 Aug 2022
Constitutional questions need answering to strengthen Welsh democracyThe debate about the UK’s constitutional arrangements has come to the fore in recent years. We’ve seen a Scottish referendum, with another possible next year, the UK’s exit from the European Union and more recently, the...Posted 18 Aug 2022
A majority of people oppose Boris Johnson’s plans to pack the Lords with new peersOur new polling has found that the majority of people (54%) oppose Boris Johnson’s plans to pack the Lords with new peers just weeks before he leaves office. Some prime ministers appoint a group of...Posted 16 Aug 2022
How did the Republic of Ireland get proportional representation?Today, almost every election held on the island of Ireland uses the Single Transferable Vote (STV). Bar elections for the 18 Westminster seats from Northern Ireland – every other election, on both sides of the border,...Posted 10 Aug 2022
Early indications suggest Welsh voting pilots went wellIn May’s local elections, four areas in Wales trialled a different way of voting – allowing people to cast their vote before election day. As well as polling stations being open on the Thursday 5...Posted 05 Aug 2022
How did New Zealand get proportional representation?Prior to 1996, MPs were elected to New Zealand’s House of Representatives using the same unrepresentative First Past The Post (FPTP) system that is used to elect MPs to the UK’s House of Commons. Since...Posted 02 Aug 2022
It’s time to scrap the tradition of resignation honoursBoris Johnson cannot be allowed to use his final days in power to pack the Lords with his supporters and allies. Boris Johnson’s days in Downing Street are numbered but that hasn’t stopped him planning...Posted 29 Jul 2022
Johnson’s resignation honours list will last a lifetimeWith the Prime Minister set to exit Downing Street in the near future, attention has turned to who’s staying behind: his resignation honours list. It is tradition for departing PMs to create new life peerages...Posted 28 Jul 2022
Success as Labour vote overwhelmingly to increase the size of the SeneddWelsh Labour members voted overwhelmingly on Saturday to back a new package of reforms to modernise the Senedd. This is the culmination of nearly 20 years of discussions around reforming the Welsh Parliament, particularly in...Posted 07 Jul 2022
Two aristocrats have won the right to make laws for life with just 27 votesJust weeks after 70,000 people cast their votes to elect two new MPs in the Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton by-elections, two hereditary peers were gifted the life-long right to make the laws we all...Posted 07 Jul 2022